When the puck is dropped in any of the first round playoffs games the puck can go in 180 different degrees of direction and nobody, no matter how great they may believe they are has any clue which direction the puck will actually go. That’s what makes these playoffs the greatest event in all of sports.
Every series is like a battle of the ironclad Monitor and Merrimack and…

these 16-teams are the ironclad ones who sunk 16 wooden ship teams to get here.

One small injury or one bouncing puck or one blown tire by a defenseman and your ship can be sunk. This is a time that some journeyman hockey player rises to shine for a few weeks and/or a goalie stands on his head to grab a series. The black eyes begin… the beards grow… some fans are cheering while others are crying – ain’t this a beautiful thing…….. eh.

Also at this time of year there are so many playoff predictions it makes you want to vomit… YET I guess because we all have a little bit of gypsy in us here goes with DR Hook’s first round short and sweet prognosis… I invite you to sharpen your pencils and post your picks… that is, if you think you can do any better. If you have a first round upset… so state it.

Try to use this format if you can… and I’ll do my best to consolidate everyone’s picks:

Kutda, I too have the Caps in 4. Do we get to change them? LOL on Ovechkin’s linemates introducing themselves.
Strangly or Believe it for the evening is that Viktor Kozlov got his first playoff goal! He was drafted 6th overall in 1993 – 16 years and 1 playoff goal! Yea…… he’s a lot like Mario, right!